Rush Enterprises buys West Texas Peterbilt

Peterbilt truck sales and service locations in West Texas soon will have a new look.

New Braunfels-based Rush Enterprises Inc. bought Lubbock-based West Texas Peterbilt, which operates three facilities in the Panhandle.

West Texas Peterbilt’s operations include a full-service dealership in Amarillo, a parts and service facility in Dalhart and a parts facility in Hereford.

The company also has dealerships in Lubbock and Odessa. Rush Enterprises estimates the purchase price for the holdings at approximately $25 million.

The acquisition of West Texas Peterbilt expands Rush’s presence in the Peterbilt business throughout the state. The facilities sold in the purchase will continue operating in their current locations as Rush Truck Centers.

The transaction included sales of assets as well as dealership licenses.

“This is a good thing,” said Mike Bryant, general manager of the West Texas Peterbilt dealership in Amarillo. “People don’t like change, especially a guy like me that’s been here 33 years. But Rush is the largest Peterbilt dealer in the country. We were the last group in Texas not owned by them.”

Bryant estimated that all but a handful of Peterbilt facilities in the United States south of Interstate 40 are Rush-operated locations.

Bryant said West Texas Peterbilt employs 33 full-time employees in Amarillo, four in Dalhart and two in Hereford.

The Lubbock and Odessa facilities have staffs of about 38 and 30 respectively, he said. Bryant said that no staff in the Panhandle were laid off as a result of the purchase.

The only West Texas Peterbilt employees who lost their jobs in the transition were four administrative staffers at the Lubbock corporate office, Bryant said.

Bryant said he thinks the West Texas Peterbilt service locations in Amarillo, Dalhart, Lubbock and Odessa will see increased business as a result of the acquisition.

“Rush has a huge customer base that will now be stopping here,” he said. “We expect to grow our service business considerably.”

West Texas Peterbilt had been owned by the Henson family since the company’s inception in 1970.

According to a release from the company, Rush Enterprises had audited revenues of $1.5 billion for the 2010 calendar year. West Texas Peterbilt had unaudited revenues of $49 million for the same period.

“We are excited to expand our dealership service network across Texas,” said Rusty Rush, the company’s CEO.

“I have tremendous respect for the Henson family and all of the employees of West Texas Peterbilt who made West Texas Peterbilt a formidable competitor and one of the most respected Peterbilt dealership groups across the country.”